Julia Middleton

Julia Middleton (born 1958, London) is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Common Purpose, a British charity that runs leadership development programmes across the UK.

She is a passionate campaigner for the progression of diverse leaders in civil society.

Education
Julia was educated at a French lycee before studying an Economics degree at London School of Economics.

Career
In 1980 Julia Middleton began her career at the Industrial Society where she created Head Start, a program providing high school dropouts with training and advice from prospective employers.

In the autumn of 1988, Julia formed Common Purpose UK.

Common Purpose UK runs a range of leadership development courses that offer participants the inspiration, knowledge and connections to help them become more active and engaged in society.

Its courses run in 11 countries worldwide and aim at improving the way organisations work by increasing the number of informed individuals who are actively involved in shaping the future of the area in which they work.

Since 1989, more than 25,000 leaders have completed one or more Common Purpose courses.

Non-executive Roles

Alongside her role as CEO of Common Purpose, Julia occupies a number of non-executive roles, including Deputy Chair of the Media Standards Trust Board, a registered charity that runs Journalisted, a free online journalist portfolio designed to improve public accountability in journalism.

Julia is also the Chair of the Board of Trustees for Alfanar, a venture philanthropy fund set up to assist organisations in the Arab region.

She helped in the founding of DEMOS, an independent think tank, and Impetus Trust, developing venture philanthropy in the UK.

Literature
In 1982 Julia authored a book called Quality Circles published by the Industrial Society in London.

She also wrote the foreword to the book How to be an even better chair: Sensible Advice from the Public & Charity Sectors written by Sophie Petit-Zeman.

In February 2007, Julia’s book ‘Beyond Authority: Leadership in a Changing World’ was published by Palgrave Macmillan and she recorded a meet the author video.

In 2010, it was translated into Hungarian and published by HVG Konyvek.

Public Speaking
In June 2008, Julia spoke at the Impact International Conference on ‘Leadership for Sustainable Enterprise’.

Julia spoke at a Faith Regen Foundation conference about Women’s Role in peaceful coexistence on 17 June 2008.

On 22 September 2008, Julia was invited to speak on a panel about company values at the AW Page Society annual conference in Cape Cod.

In The Media
On 5 June 1997 Julia appeared on BBC Question Time hosted by David Dimbleby.

In March 2008, Julia was interviewed by Die Zeit German news about Common Purpose UK and leadership in Germany.

Julia Middleton is often called upon to contribute to or comment on leadership news in publications. These include:


 * Moving outside your comfort zone, The Guardian, 30 March 2007
 * Leading leaders to tomorrow's world is a job for learning and development professionals, Personnel Today, 22 January 2008
 * The wealth of experience, The Guardian, 16 April 2008
 * Unlock leadership potential: how to, Personnel Today, 10 June 2008

In January 2010, Julia and Common Purpose UK were featured in a Daily Telegraph Business Club video that explored how the organisation has expanded internationally without becoming fragmented or diluted.

In March 2010, Julia interviewed 12 leaders, including Dame Suzi Leather, about the lessons learned about leadership in 2009.

The resulting video featured in both ThirdSector and The Guardian.